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'The Walking Dead' season 4 episode 3 recap: 'Isolation'

From left, Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.), Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) emerge from a surprise battle with a herd of walkers on their way to a veterinary college where they hoped to find medication during season 4âs third episode of âThe Walking Dead.â
(Gene Page/AMC)

Personal hygiene was not a priority, and food was intended to sustain.

The prison was more of a breeding ground for illness and death than a safe haven from walkers.

And now our survivors in the fourth season of "The Walking Dead" must anticipate and respond to threats from surprising sources as they find their place in this season's plot.

But they are left with hope.

Falling into plot lines

The writers of the episode titled "Isolation" bounced us around from one scene to the next in a pacing similar to a soap opera. In fact, they deliberately gave each character some lines in this episode.

The main characters started the episode scrambling for their plot lines, eventually slipping into them midway through the episode.

Tyreese

Tyreese exploded with rage over the loss of Karen, his girlfriend, and demanded that Rick bring the perpetrator to justice. We learned that Karen and David were killed and burned.

Then, his fear over losing his sister, Sasha, to the infection urges him to join Daryl, Michonne and Bob on a 50-mile trip to a veterinary college to obtain medicine. He and the others barely escape a herd of walkers that overtook their vehicle and attacked them. We leave them lost in the woods, trying to find their way to safety.

Tyreese must not only overcome these emotions to move forward, but he must work through them.

Hershel

Sasha (Sonequa Martin) is infected with the illness at the prison during season 4's third episode of "The Walking Dead."Gene Page/AMC

Hershel suggested this trip to the college, as he overcomes a surprising reluctance to directly tend to the sick.

At first, he led the effort to quarantine the children and the sick, a logical move under the circumstances.

But Hershel always had been a man of action and responsibility. He eventually was compelled to care for the sick, despite Maggie's protests, and even risked his life collecting elderberries in the woods for a medicinal tea.

Hershel also served as a voice of reason and maturity for Carl, who is beginning a painful and confusing transition from child soldier to manhood in the land of the dead.

Armed with the gun Rick finally allowed him to carry, Carl follows Hershel into the woods to protect him while he collects berries. When walkers appear, Hershel tells Carl that killing the walkers in the woods is not necessary, and they leave unharmed without a shot fired.

Rick

Rick fell into the plot line of solving the mystery of the burning bodies. He returned, in some small way, to his pre-apocalyptic life as a deputy, scouring the compound for clues, asking difficult questions and observing those with whom he breaks bread.

He was reluctant at first, when Tyreese demanded that he seek justice for those who died. Rick cited his lack of confidence and inability to lead as reasons for his reticence.

But he gradually overcame his apprehensiveness and learned the identity of the person who killed and burned Karen's and David's bodies.

Carol

It was Carol.

When Rick confronted her, she admitted to it in a matter-of-fact manner. And she would do it again if it meant protecting herself and the community.

She is a woman with little to hold onto but her own basic survival and that of the group.

She watched her daughter be shot in the head at the end of the second season, after she became a zombie.

She tried to develop some semblance of a relationship with Daryl in the second and third seasons, but so far this season, that attempt has been fruitless and unsatisfying.

Her determination to survive seems to override any compassion or empathy for the fear and suffering of the children she teaches.

Carol has a fearlessness only too familiar to women who have overcome such tremendous pain and fear. But her struggles are oblivious to those around her, which is frightening when she legitimizes murder.

Voice in the darkness

Can she and the others hang on?

A voice over the car radio could be a sign of a new future for the weary survivors. Daryl, Tyreese, Michonne and Bob were stunned to hear them as they drove to the hospital.

Medication could make its way to the prison and save those who are sick, including Sasha and Glenn.

We leave this episode with a deeper insight into the emotional complexities of some of our survivors.

Return next week for a recap of the next episode titled "Indifference," which begins at 9 p.m. Sunday on AMC.

Death in life

For some, death is a state of mind.

Those who suffer from Cotard's Syndrome, known as the Walking Corpse Syndrome, truly believe they are dead.

They are convinced that organs and body parts are dead or do not exist. Researchers have documented patients' accounts of their "death," resulting from this rare psychiatric condition.

These delusions, not the disorder, actual kill some sufferers. They either starve themselves to death or commit suicide.

One of the syndrome's triggers was found to be acyclovir, known as Zovirax, a drug used to treat the herpes virus, as well as chicken pox and shingles. About one percent of users experience Cotard's Syndrome, named for Jules Cotard, a French neurosurgeon who first identified it as "negation delirium" in the 1800s.